Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 33,305 Shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 658,871 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 33,305 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.15% of Crown Castle worth $78,162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,875,581 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,476,470,000 after purchasing an additional 747,390 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Crown Castle by 23.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,528,597 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,079,417,000 after purchasing an additional 3,371,186 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Crown Castle by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,105,151 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,434,229,000 after buying an additional 151,990 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Crown Castle by 1.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,177,250 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $603,518,000 after buying an additional 67,072 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Crown Castle by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,174,920 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $613,900,000 after buying an additional 348,296 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company's stock.

Crown Castle Price Performance

CCI traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $97.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,698,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,626,337. Crown Castle Inc. has a 12 month low of $92.48 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43. The business's 50-day moving average price is $106.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.09. The stock has a market cap of $42.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.03 and a beta of 0.86.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($1.03). The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. Crown Castle had a net margin of 18.59% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $1.565 per share. This represents a $6.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Crown Castle's dividend payout ratio is currently 221.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Crown Castle from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Crown Castle from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Crown Castle from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Crown Castle from $127.00 to $123.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $116.53.

About Crown Castle

Crown Castle owns, operates and leases more than 40,000 cell towers and approximately 90,000 route miles of fiber supporting small cells and fiber solutions across every major U.S. market. This nationwide portfolio of communications infrastructure connects cities and communities to essential data, technology and wireless service - bringing information, ideas and innovations to the people and businesses that need them.